


The path of Mirkwood

by gabbi73



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2015-12-05
Packaged: 2018-05-05 00:40:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5354360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gabbi73/pseuds/gabbi73
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a short one shot of Thranduil and Bard.</p>
<p>Bard is a delivery guy between Mirkwood and Laketown and get's into a surprising situation after thinking he was <br/>done for the day and about to head home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The path of Mirkwood

Bard got hold of the last barrel as he turned to walk down the path towards his boat. 

 

Being the middleman between Laketown and Mirkwood caused him to spend long days on the land of the elves. 

 

Yet, seeing elves were strangely unusual. Sure he sometimes came across some, but mostly he would leave the barrels with food or wine close to the elves storage point where they later came to pick them up.

 

This of course, meant that he had to travel what seemed like quite far when having to carry barrels with you. 

 

Bard stopped, concentrating his hearing. He had felt like he was being watched, though he quickly shook away the feeling, but hearing branches break made him more observant. He got out his bow with a slow motion trying to pinpoint the sound.

 

In just mere seconds he was thrown backwards, hitting the ground with a loud thud. 

 

As he regained his senses as quickly as he could muster, he turned to look at who or what that was responsible for the situation at hand. 

 

Fear struck him, as he looked into the many eyes of the beast well known to be lurking around Mirkwood. Bard had always shrugged the warnings of these beasts as he had never encountered any of them before, and the possibility of meeting them was very low. 

 

Reaching for his bow, he could do no less than groan at the fact that it was laying in a neat pile beside the giant beast. He must’ve lost it the moment he was thrown backwards by the giant spider. 

 

Fighting these creatures was bad enough, having no weapon was suicide. Bard knew that, everyone knew that. Yet, he was faced with that exact situation. 

 

Trying to think of possible escape routes proved bad, as running away was out of the question, and that had been the only thinkable escape route in that given state.

 

There was no more time for thoughts as the giant spider started launching towards him. Teeth’s like razors were showing, as someone was ready for their meal. 

 

Bard froze. Was this really the end? A spider on the path of Mirkwood? Still, he couldn’t leave yet. He had children that needed caring and food and protection. Who was going to give them that when he was gone? Seeing the beast closing in, he could do nothing to ease the feeling of regret filling his chest. 

 

Anyone being rescued when thinking of certain death would see their rescuer as an angel sent from above. In Bards case, this was an easy assumption to make. 

 

With a swift movement, a silver sword cut through the spider’s body killing it in an instant. 

 

White silvery hair went from twirling in the wind, to falling back into place as if it had been combed and braided for hours. 

 

Bard had always seen elves as somehow closer to godly beings than any other being on earth. Yet, this person was beyond even his own imagination of godly. 

 

“Mortals should not wander alone out here in such a defenceless state” The elf was tall, yet slender and elegant in his movements. 

 

“I lost my bow and arrows when being unexpectedly attacked” Bard tried to reason, feeling a bit looked down upon for his mortal life being so easy to destroy.

 

The elf looked at him for a second before turning his eyes towards the bow mixing into the colours of the ground beneath it. 

 

Without a word he lowered his hand and gently got hold of it, inspecting it with experienced eyes. 

 

“A sword would suit you better in this type of combat” The elf made a few long steps towards Bard, stretching out the bow to him. 

 

“I find swords to be bothersome. And I feel more confident with a bow” Bard said, as he got hold of his beloved bow. 

 

“I hear your words, but I still believe the situation would’ve been the same had you been in possession of your bow or not” The elf said, turning around as he made the gap between them widen. 

 

“I should thank you for that” Bard had wanted to argue on the elf’s wrong assumption, but he believed a ‘thank you’ was in order considering he had saved him and his family’s future. 

 

“Your gratitude is misplaced. I was solely watching out for my own kin’s safety. Saving you was just out of coincidence”.

 

“Yet, you did. So I will stand my ground on my gratitude being relevant” Bard could not help the small feeling of annoyance rising inside of him. Still, the elf had saved him (whether he meant to or not) and that was something Bard would always be thankful for.

 

“My name is Bard, I do the delivery of wine and food to Mirkwood” Bard had wanted to make an introduction as to show respect and friendliness.

 

“I know” 

 

“You know?” Bard asked, as he saw the elf stop in his track. 

 

“It shouldn’t be so surprising. This is an elven path, of course I would’ve seen you before”.

 

“You’re right in saying it’s an elven road, but it has been seldom that I’ve ever met any elves here before. The path leads to nowhere, except my docking place, and I do believe I would’ve remember seeing you pass me by here”. 

 

The air had become tense. Bard couldn’t truly understand why, but the elf seemed to be having a hard time thinking up his answers. Though, it was hard to tell, considering they were masters of showing no form for facial expressions.

 

The elf seemed to have come to an agreement with himself, in which he again turned to leave. All Bard could think of was how strange it was to see an elf running away from something. They seemed to always be wiser, wittier and always so calm and collected. 

 

Bard followed him, and with a gentle hand he got hold of the elf’s arm, turning him around and making his escape more difficult.

 

“Tell me. Since you know about me, have you perhaps been watching me?” 

 

Up this close it was hard not to be even just a bit amazed at how elves were able to attain such beautiful features. 

 

Even more so, when the elf’s cheeks turned into a hint of red. It would’ve gone unnoticed had Bard not been this close to him. 

 

“You’re an intriguing object to observe, nothing more” 

 

A lie, made even clearer by the uncomfortable air that was coming from the elf. So the feeling of being watched, it must’ve been him the whole time, Bard thought. 

 

“And do I still intrigue you?” Maybe Bard went a bit too far with the elf, but at this point, he found it hard to quit.

 

The elf looked at him, his strangely enticing eyes were working some kind of spell on him. 

 

Being drawn to prettiness was not unusual. It was even looked upon as one of the elves few weaknesses. But for Bard, well he had never thought much about it. 

 

He was a simple man, not needing much to survive. Yet, standing in front of someone in ownership of such magical beauty, made his decisions turn hazy.

 

Bard leaned closer to the elf. And with a slow, gentle hand he got hold of some of the elf’s hair. It felt like silk in his hand. 

 

The elf stood still, only having a curious look in his eyes. 

 

“What’s your name?” Bard said, still focusing on the hairs unbelievable softness.

 

“Thranduil” The elf replied simply, while lightly putting his slender fingers on Bards chest. It seemed he was also trying to satisfy his curiousness of the other being. It seemed he had forgotten about his earlier embarrassment and was now fixed on memorising Bards chest with his hand. 

 

“You have a strange effect on people” 

 

“Oh?” The elf gave a hint of a smile, if not a smirk as he uttered the simple word.

 

Bard couldn’t help it; he softly slid his hand behind the elf’s head and leaned in closer. Being careful not to frighten him. As Thranduil gave no sign of moving away, and instead was standing unwavering, Bard closed the last gap between them. 

 

The sensation was strange yet pleasuring. It felt strange because of how it made butterflies go wild in Bards stomach, however the pleasuring feeling was overwhelming. The elf’s lips were softer than he could’ve ever imagined.

 

Bard was quickly making the kiss deeper, and it did not take much for him to be entirely seduced by this immortal being. The kiss was sweet; it felt unreal, yet too real at the same time. 

 

Parting their lips was becoming difficult, but was of need as they had to breath. Bard looked at the elf panting mildly in front of him. It made his heart skip a couple of beats. 

 

“I should be going back” Bard said, knowing he had already outstayed his visit to Mirkwood.

 

“Then we’ll meet again another time” Thranduil said, as he quickly composed himself, going back to the more usual face of an elf (which was without a hint of an expression).

 

“Yes, we will” Bard got hold of the empty barrel he had originally been carrying, and slowly made his way to his boat. 

 

He had felt the eyes of the elf on his back as he retreated. It made him happy in so many wrong ways.

 

He was still a bit unsure of how he had managed to be seduced by someone so easily, and even more, being attracted to a man was not really something he had considered before. 

 

In the long trip back to Laketown, Bard could not shake the image of the elf from his mind. 

 

Perhaps he would be able to meet him again tomorrow. He had already been asked by the master of Laketown to go back to Mirkwood for a meeting with the Elven king. 

 

Bard knew generally little about the elves, and especially the Elven king, never getting to know his name was because the Master of Laketown insisted on everyone to refer to him as the Elven king to be polite.   
From what Bard did know from the master of Laketowns descriptions, he believed the Elven king to be a rather displeasing and arrogant king. Meeting him would surely not be a pleasant experience.

 

Yet, at this point, he did not care. The possibility of meeting Thranduil there, made the thought of the kingly meeting a great deal easier to tolerate. 

 

He would surely like getting to know Thranduil better, as he barely knew anything about him, but his name. 

 

‘Tomorrow’ Bard thought. Tomorrow he would try his best to locate the elf (not that it would be hard, as he had never seen an elf as pure and beautiful as Thranduil before) and he would definitely get to know more about him.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first one shot. I usually likes to make longer stories because I feel it's nicer to get a longer story and   
> getting to know the characters better.
> 
> But I just had a little idea, and thought it would be best to just out it out there without much fuss and long chapters (considering I struggle when getting inspiration on longer works).
> 
> Hope you had a good time reading it. And if you feel like it, tell me what you think about it.
> 
> Have a nice day/night I dunno...


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